Will poor road works continue in Nagpur?

NAGPUR: Sub-standard quality of road asphalting works has hit Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) hard in the last couple of years, causing financial loss for NMC, and inconvenience and mishaps for citizens. Taking serious cognisance, contractors had been asked to avoid bidding for work orders below the estimated cost, since this was believed to be the major reason for poor quality of work. However, the trend is continuing this year too. NMC has been receiving bids that are 20 to 40% below estimates, raising questions on the quality of work that will be done by contractors.

NMC started to issue tenders for road repairs for this year in the last few days. According to estimates, NMC will spend over Rs 60 crore on road works. The tender process for a few roads has been completed.

NMC officials said the lowest bids are much below the estimated cost in many of the works. "Estimated cost is finalized according to the common schedule of rates (CSR) notified by the public works department. The CSR rates are at par with actual cost of the materials. Bids up to 10% below the cost are understandable. But bids 20-40% lower than estimate are worrying for NMC," he said.

The standing committee will meet on Monday to discuss 16 proposals tabled by various departments. Two proposals are related to road repairing works. The lowest bid received for supply of metal used in tar work is 37.86% below the estimated rate. The department estimated the cost at Rs 99.99 lakh while the lowest bid received is Rs 62.13 lakh. Another proposal is related to road asphalting work from Dhantoli gas godown to Mishra hospital. The lowest bid received is 19.98% below the estimated cost.

A senior NMC official told TOI that the department asked the lowest bidder in the contract of metal supply to justify the bid. "The bidder said his quarry and crusher are situated close to NMC's hot mix plant. He promised not to create any problem of quality or quantity," he said.

Official from NMC's public works department said that municipal commissioner Shyam Wardhane should come up with proper plans to counter check the quality and quantity to prevent substandard quality of road repairs again. "Assistant commissioners should be allowed to counter check the works. Besides, ward-wise committee of technical engineers and others should be deputed to ensure quality and quantity," he said.

The TOI had reported on surface layers of two roads coming apart within a few days of asphalting. Even chairman of standing committee Dayashankar Tiwari had exposed poor quality of work on a few roads. Former chairman Sandip Joshi too brought shoddy works on two roads to the notice of the administration. Now, the question is whether NMC can prevent substandard quality of work, or are bad roads in store for citizens this year too.